Sister Joan Chittister famously said, "We are each called to go through life reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again." Reflecting on that journey -- a blog at a time -- is the focus of this site.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Here's to Heresy!

Still easing into first "back to work week." Get coffee. Boot up computer. Go to Google to get directions for meeting later this week. Right click on weird Google logo to see what they're celebrating today ...

.... and find that today is the 400th ANNIVERSARY OF GALILEO'S TELESCOPE. (Who knew?)

In case you snoozed through that lecture in history class, here's a "Clif Notes" refresher:

Born in 1564, Galileo was a noted physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. After his 1609 invention of a telescope, Galileo published an account of his observations of the moons of Jupiter -- and used this observation to argue in favor of the sun-centered theory of the universe against the dominant earth-centered theories.

The next year Galileo visited Rome in order to demonstrate his telescope to the influential Jesuit Collegio Romano, and to let them see with their own eyes the reality of the four moons of Jupiter. Nevertheless, opposition arose to the Sun-centered theory of the universe which Galileo supported and in 1614, Galileo's opinions on the motion of the Earth were denounced from a Roman pulpit and called "dangerous and close to heresy."

Galileo went to Rome to defend himself against these accusations. Although he was cleared of any offence at that time, the Catholic Church nevertheless condemned his work as "false and contrary to Scripture" and Galileo was warned to abandon his support for it. When he later defended his views in his most famous work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in 1632, he was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy," forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest -- where he died in 1642.

So what's all this got to do with us today? Read this bit from one of the online bios of Galileo and see if it sounds vaguely familiar:

Psalm 93:1, "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved."Psalm 104:5 says, "the LORD set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved."Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "And the sun rises and sets and returns to its place" etc.

Galileo defended heliocentrism, and claimed it was not contrary to those Scripture passages. He took Augustine's position on Scripture: not to take every passage literally, particularly when the scripture in question is a book of poetry and songs, not a book of instructions or history. The writers of the Scripture wrote from the perspective of the terrestrial world, and from that vantage point the sun does rise and set.

So there you have it. They say that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it -- and "Exhibit A" of that theory are those who four hundred years later are throwing around isolated scripture passages to support outdated understandings of everything from the science of creation to the science of human sexuality.

And -- oh yes -- calling those who have learned from their history and are determined NOT to repeat it "heretics."

So here's the "takeaway" from this morning's lecture on life, the universe, Galileo and heresy:

THE BIBLE IS NOT A TEXTBOOK ON HUMAN SEXUALITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY ANY MORE THAN IT WAS A TEXTBOOK ON ASTRONOMY IN THE SIXTEENTH!

Cue music -- sing along if you know the tune:

I sing a song of the saints of God,patient and brave and true,who toiled and fought and lived and diedfor the Lord they loved and knew.And one was a doctor, and one was a pope,and one was a heretic with a telescope;they were all of them saints of God,and I mean, God helping, to be one too..

Best to just put the "good" book down, study some more physics/math/chemistry/biology and leave theology to the old ladies of both sexes. Theology was once the Queen of the Sciences; now it's become the Science of Queens.

Science does a great job of explaining how the actual world actually works. It does a poor job of informing the right use of that new knowledge.

For example, transhumanism posits that social and cultural construction can be applied somatically, behaviorally and ethically - I define my body, I define my behavior, and I define my ethics. Simply, like Nietshcze and his superman, because I choose to.

In transhumanism, all externally assigned labels, all external value statements, are rejected by a sovereign, individual act of the will. The only "right," if such a word can even be used, is to give everyone the same freedom I assert for myself to transform myself as I wish.

The transhumanist applies science to the remaking of humanity into post-humanity. How does Progressive Christianity deal with Transhumanism?

Welcome to my blog ...

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

========

Until we end the blatant and indefensible discrimination of DOMA we are not living up to the pledge we make to be a nation of liberty and justice for all, we are not providing the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to same-sex couples and we are failing to defend the self-evident truth that our forbearers fought to protect: that ALL people are created equal.

============ Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it. ============ It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

====== In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value. ======= Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Basic Bio

A cradle Episcopalian second generation Dodger fan ENFJ native of Los Angeles I was ordained in 1996 and currently serve as a Senior Associate at All Saints Church, Pasadena.
My family consists of my wife Lori, 2 dogs, (Luna and Betsy), 3 cats (Maui, Cherokee and Harold) and our four nearly-grown kids: Jim, Brian, Grace and Emily.
My life in the church has included everything from Junior Altar Guild with my Aunt Gretchen to my “obligatory young adult lapsed phase” to a tour of duty on the St. Paul’s, Ventura vestry where I also worked as parish secretary to a life-heart-soul changing experience as part of the Cursillo community to serving on my parish ECW Board to seminary at the School of Theology in Claremont to associate/day school chaplain positions at St. Mark’s, Altadena and St. Peter’s, San Pedro to Executive Director of Claiming the Blessing to my current parish position at All Saints Church. It’s been a long and winding road and the journey continues: an inch at a time.

Bottom Line:

A Comment On Comments

Strongly held perspectives are appreciated. Ad hominem attacks will be deleted. When in doubt, revisit page 305 of the BCP and if what you're typing doesn't meet the "respect the dignity" clause of the Baptismal Covenant then save us both some time and energy and don't hit "send."

DISCLAIMER

This blog is the personal weblog of one Susan Lynn Russell. The opinions expressed herein are hers and hers alone. The postions taken on matters theological or political (or anything else, for that matter) are in no way to be construed as the official positions of any other person, institution, group or organization.

Other Cool Stuff I Get To Do

Smart things other people have said you should know about

“Faith in action is called politics. Spirituality without action is fruitless and social action without spirituality is heartless. We are boldly political without being partisan. Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.” -- Ed Bacon

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives." -- The Rt Rev Gene Robinson

"How can you initiate someone into the Body of Christ and then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?" - The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these." — Siddhārtha Gautama

"I'm so glad Mary didn't wait for the formulation of a Doctrine of the Incarnation before she said 'Yes' to God." -- Ed Bacon

"The great Easter truth is not that we will be born again someday but that we are to be alive here and now by the power of the resurrection." -- Philips Brooks (paraphrase)

"History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” -- Walter Wink

“Patience, a quality of holiness may be sloth in the soul when associated with the lack of righteous indignation.” -- Abraham Heschel

"Don't tell me what you believe. Tell me what difference it makes that you believe!" -- Verna Dozier

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief. Nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief. At the same time as our constitution prohibits state religion, establishment of it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.” -- Ronald Reagan

Let's be clear. The fact that the State authorizes a marriage in no way compels any Church to perform or recognize it. Marriage equality merely guarantees equality under the law to all citizens; it does not compel churches to do anything.-- Katherine Ragsdale